Haig is delighted to offer charity places for the most popular marathon on the planet

As UK’s leading veterans housing charity, we have to work hard to raise every £1 to fund our homes. So, to ensure we raise the maximum possible funds from our limited London Marathon places, we operate an application process to understand your fundraising plans and your motivations for running for Haig.

As you may well know, the demand far outweighs the number of places available for the London Marathon as the most popular road race in the world.

There are two ways you can possibly secure a place:

1) Annual Public London Marathon ballot

WE ENCOURAGE ALL INTERESTED RUNNERS TO ENTER THE BALLOT, EXPECTED TO OPEN AGAIN IN APRIL 2026 HERE

If you’re successful in the ballot (announced by July 2025), we’d love you to consider joining Team Haig to help raise awareness of who we are, what we do and raise what you can from your family and friends. We’ll offer you a running vest, invite you to a team training day, connect you with our running squad for moral support, and be there to cheer you along on the big day.

2) Charity place

What is a charity place?
If unsuccessful in the public ballot, hopeful runners can seek a place to run for a charity close to their heart.

Charity places are like gold dust, but every blue moon, London Marathon organisers invite charities to enter a ballot to have the opportunity to buy charity places.

We hope to offer the places to a broad range of our supporter community, but we respectfully encourage you to really consider your commitment to meeting our fundraising target as Haig could end up losing valuable charity funds if all runners do not do so.

You can register your interest for a London Marathon charity place by answering the following questions in an email:
1. Your full name and date of birth
2. Your address and contact telephone number
3. Name of your employer (if employed), and do they offer matched funding (a promise to match every £1 you raise)?
4. Would you be happy for Haig to promote your story of why you are running in Team Haig and share your images on our website and social media?

Please tell us about you, your motivation to run for Haig Housing and how you plan to meet the fundraising target for Haig. There are no wrong or right answers, but please consider including the following in your application:

• Are you a Haig resident (current or former)? If yes, please share more details on when (how long), where and who you live with?
• Are you a veteran? If yes, please share details of who you served with, when and with which regiment?
• Why would you like to run in support of Haig Housing?
• Do you plan to wear a costume, run a particular time or aim to break a record?
• How do you expect to meet the minimum fundraising target of £2500? (It would be helpful to share your experience of fundraising in the past or how you may have helped others to fundraise)
• Have you run the London Marathon and/or another marathon before? If so, we’d love to hear of your experience.

Please email: [email protected] by 1st June 2026 to be considered for a place in Team Haig in London Marathon 2026. Please expect to receive an outcome of your registration by the end of July 2026.

If the target for London Marathon seems unachievable for you, we invite you to join Team Haig in one of the many other challenges available across the UK via our newsletter sign up at the bottom of this page.